Privacy in Action: Sean Wright, Application Security Professional

Interview with Sean Wright, Application Security Professional, discussing career tips and data privacy.

One of the most active and welcoming online communities we’ve come across has been the InfoSec community on Twitter. In our chats with folks on there, we struck up a great conversation with the incredibly smart Sean Wright. So, we thought we’d interview him for our Privacy in Action series!

Sean Wright is the Lead Application Security SME at Immersive Labs with an origin as a software developer. He is primarily focused on web-based application security with a special interest in TLS related subjects. And, he is experienced in providing technical leadership in relation to application security, as well as engaging with teams to improve the security of systems that they develop. You can follow him on Twitter @SeanWrightSec.

Interview with Sean Wright

Startpage: What does privacy mean to you?

Sean Wright: Privacy is something we often take for granted. For me, privacy is about keeping personal details and behaviors away from organizations and individuals who do not have explicit permission to hold or process our data. This is both in terms of personal details and behaviors as well as professional ones. 

Startpage: One a scale of 1 to 10, how private are you?

Sean Wright: This is something I’m working on personally. I’d currently rate myself around 7, but it is something I would like to become better at.

Startpage: On social media, we see a lot of folks attempting to land a job in cybersecurity. How did you get started with your career in cybersecurity?

Sean Wright: For me, it all started off in university. I did a course on network security and was immediately hooked. I loved the appeal of security, so it was a role I always wanted to get into. I’m perhaps showing my age a bit, but when I finished university, there weren’t many jobs related to cybersecurity. Typically, graduates try to grab the first role that comes their way, which for me turned out to be software development. I stuck with this for a number of years, but always tried to input my knowledge of security into my role. My break came about when I got a phone call asking if I would be interested in a software development role at a cybersecurity company. I saw this as a potential to break into a full security role, and thankfully it worked out how I had hoped. Since I had been involved with software development, I gravitated towards application security, which I’m still passionate about to this day!

Startpage: What advice would you give someone starting a career in cybersecurity?

Sean Wright: Get involved! Get a Twitter account, get involved in discussions and make connections with people in the community. Attend local meetups and conferences, maybe even submit a talk to them. Also start your own blog. This will all help to create your personal brand and reputation in the community. Luckily, the infosec community is amazing and so many people in it want to help others, especially those just starting out in their careers. So, by using tools such as Twitter, and developing your personal brand, you will have plenty of people willing to help you out and get you your break in the industry.

Startpage: We hear you spend a significant amount of personal time doing your own personal security-related research. What are some of the projects you’re currently working on?

Sean Wright: At the moment, I’ve been taking a bit of a break to recharge my batteries. One thing I was looking to work on is an automated security testing framework which can be used by developers and testers to help automate security tests on their applications. I’d also like to pick up my research into a router that I was looking into, trying to find security vulnerabilities in it. I’m hoping to get back into these two projects in the next few weeks.

Startpage: Do you use any privacy tools? If so, what are your favorite privacy tools?

Sean Wright:

• • Search Engine: This would have to be Startpage
  • Browser: Brave (the Chromium aspect of this makes it great from a compatibility perspective) 
  • Email: O365 
  • Messaging: Signal
  • VPN: ProtonVPN and my own instance (OpenVPN)
  • Password Manager: 1Password

Startpage: How do you envision data privacy in the future? 1 year, 10 years, lifetime?

Sean Wright: Thankfully we’ve started to see people taking their privacy a lot more seriously now and I imagine this is an area which will continue to grow in the coming year. Personal data is already a big business, so we will likely see friction between organizations wishing to monetize that personal data and those who wish to protect it. I’m also hoping to see more businesses start to use privacy as a selling point. I’m expecting to see the conversation around privacy grow and develop in mainstream media too. 

As for 10 years and beyond? I couldn’t say – things adapt and change so quickly in our industry that predicting beyond a couple of years is going to be difficult! 

Startpage: Would you rather share your search history or wipe your computer?

Sean Wright: Wipe my computer, for sure!

Startpage: Is there anything else you would like to share?

Sean Wright: As I mentioned above, privacy is an important topic that is often taken for granted. As our lives become more and more integrated and intertwined with online services, the role of privacy in our lives is only going to grow. And, unfortunately, that will open the way to criminal elements, who will be willing to take whatever data they can lay their hands on.  As such, improving your own privacy and trying to limit what they can get hold of must be a priority. In security, we have the concept of “least privilege”, which many individuals should apply to their personal data by only sharing what is absolutely necessary with a service, organization or individual. This isn’t because those services, organizations or individuals will act maliciously with the information you have given them – but they may suffer a breach in which your data becomes exposed to criminals. The less you’ve shared, the better.